Scooter type vehicles which are propelled by impulses from one foot on the ground while the other foot rests on a long elongated platform or foot board supported by front and rear wheels and provided at its forward end with a suitable steering post or column are well known in the art. An early disclosure of a scooter can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,689,916, which is hereby incorporated by reference thereto.
Traditionally, scooters consist of a frame having one or two tubes bent to provide a mounting platform for a footboard. Connected to the front of the frame is a rigid yoke, which holds the stem of a front fork, in which a front wheel is mounted. The upper end of the stem is connected to a steering column, which is coupled to a handle bar. A rear wheel is coupled to the rear end of the frame. At least one of the wheels is connected to a brake.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,929 and U.S. D292221 disclose two exemplary scooters. The footboards in the disclosed scooters do not allow the rider to place both feet next to each other parallel to the direction of travel. Therefore, the rider cannot assume an optimal body position while maintaining equilibrium when riding the scooter. This limits the rider's ability to operate the scooter and perform freestyle tricks. U.S. Pat. No. 6,279,929 is hereby incorporated by reference thereto.
The rider's posture when riding a scooter is determined primarily by the position of the rider's hands when holding the handle bar relative to the rider's feet when standing at the center of the footboard. In traditional scooters the vertical distance of footboard to handle bar is significantly more than 1.5 times its horizontal distance. These proportions prevent the rider from taking an optimal stance.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/145,501 (publication 20030132592), which is hereby incorporated by reference thereto, discloses an all-terrain trick scooter comprising an upright head tube, a main tube extending downward from said head tube, two rear fork arms extending out from the lower end of said main tube, a pair of rear axle seats attached to each said rear fork arms, a pair of rear foot pegs extending out laterally from the lower end of said frame, a rear wheel connected to said rear axle seats, a front fork including a fork shaft and two prongs extending downwardly therefrom, a pair of front axle seats attached to the lower end of said prongs, a pair of front foot pegs extending out laterally from said front axle seats, a front wheel connectable to said front axle seats, a handlebar connectable to said fork shaft of said front fork, a means of braking both wheels utilizing hand brakes coupled to said handlebars.
The problem, however, is that a scooter comprising a single main tube frame is not sufficiently strong and torsionally rigid to be used for freestyle sports. Also, the disclosed scooter comprises front and rear pegs located at each wheel for the rider to stand on when travelling. These pegs offer insufficient support for the rider to attain a secure stance. The location of the pegs close to the front and rear wheels makes it difficult for the rider to attain stable equilibrium.
What is therefore needed is an improved scooter which provides optimized proportions to enable the rider to perform freestyle tricks.